The UK’s High Court has approved a six-figure settlement for an autistic man who was unlawfully detained in a care home for more than seven years.
Lancashire County Council had removed the man, who also has a learning disability, from his family home at the age of 24.
The council placed him in a care home that was a 45-minute drive away from his family in the Fylde, Lancashire. He lived there from February 2010 to April 2017.
The High Court, which has approved a £200,000 settlement for unlawfully detaining a man for more than seven years
The accommodation was locked, with an alarm on the door. The man was also under one-to-one supervision for up to 14 hours a day.
In addition, the care home prevented or heavily restricted the man’s access to the internet, social media sites and email.
£200,000 settlement
His family instructed lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate the decision to place him in the care home and to keep him there. They argued that it unlawfully deprived him of his liberty.
Lancashire County Council has now agreed a £200,000 settlement for the man, who is known as CHH.
It has also agreed to pay £155,000 towards the cost of a deputy to manage CHH’s funds on his behalf, as he lacks the mental capacity to manage his property and affairs.
The council accepted it breached CHH’s human rights and apologised to CHH. The High Court has approved the settlement.
‘Shocking case’
Fiona McGhie is the specialist public law and human rights lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who represented the family. She said after the hearing: “This is a shocking case, where the unlawful restrictions placed on CHH have had a profound impact on his life.
“During his placement, he was in effect imprisoned, living in locked accommodation miles away from his family. To make things worse, CHH and his family repeatedly stated that he was unhappy and he wanted to live nearer to his family.
“Given his strong objections to his placement, the local authority should have referred his case to the Court of Protection to determine where it was in his best interests to live. It didn’t do that and so CHH was denied the opportunity of being able to challenge the deprivation of his liberty in a court.”
‘He was extremely unhappy’
She added: “As a result, he lived for many years in a placement where he was extremely unhappy, despite health professionals also raising concerns that he was inappropriately placed.
“While nothing can make up for the years CHH lost we’re pleased that we’ve at least been able to secure this settlement for CHH and hope he can now try and look to the future the best he can. For the moment, he is now living happily with his family at home.
“This case acts as a stark reminder to all local authorities of the need to ensure that the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards are followed, and that those objecting to their placements are supported to challenge them in the Court of Protection.”
CHH, who lived at home with his parents and siblings, was moved to a temporary care home in January 2010 following an issue at home. His initial placement was deemed completely unsuitable, so a month later he was transferred to the care home that he lived in until April 2017.
In 2017, CHH’s mother contacted Irwin Mitchell, which issued a case in the Court of Protection. It was agreed that CHH could leave the care home and return to live with his family.
Since then, he has been living happily with his family. They say he has also benefited hugely from the close relationship he has with his brothers.
‘We thought it would be a short-term measure’
CHH’s mum spoke on behalf of the family after the hearing. She said: “When our son was removed we thought it would only be a short-term measure. Little did we know it would turn into years of him being deprived of his liberty.
“When he was in the care home you could see a real difference in him, and not for the better. His development went backwards, he became more withdrawn, wouldn’t communicate with people and his mental health suffered. It was heartbreaking to see.
“For years we asked the council for more to be done to help our son, but we felt that every time we asked nothing was done.
“Since he’s come home he’s a totally different person. His quality of life has improved beyond all measure.”
‘We hope we can raise awareness’
She added: “We’d rather not have found ourselves in the position of having to contact lawyers, but we felt we were left with no other choice when nothing was changing for CHH and he was being treated so unfairly.
“We just hope that speaking out we can raise awareness of what it means to be unlawfully deprived of your liberty, so more families feel able to challenge placements they feel are wrong for their loved one.”
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Published: 24 March 2022
